Companion animals such as dogs and cats seem to suffer from aging problems. Some of these are manifested in commonplace sayings. One of these is “You can't teach an old dog new tricks”. This saying arises from the observation that as dogs age, their mental capacity seems to diminish as well as physical abilities. Mental activities associated with thinking learning and memory seem to be lessened (Cummings B J, Head E, Ruehl W, Milgram N W, Cotman C W 1996: The canine as an animal model of aging and dementia; Neurobiology of aging 17:259-268). Additionally, behavioral change can be manifested in the aging animals in association with the changing mental capacity. Many causes have been assigned to this lessening of capacity.
These losses in capacity are generally observed in aged canines and felines. Dogs of seven years or older and felines of seven years or older are considered aged and can experience this problem.
The presence of significant levels of at least one antioxidant in the diet of an adult companion pet or fed to a pet outside his diet can inhibit the onset of deterioration of the mental capacity of the aged companion pet and/or maintain the mental capacity of the adult companion pet further into the aged years.